Solenopsis invicta virus

ABSTRACT

A Unique  Solenopsis invicta  viruse (SINV2) have been identified and its genome sequenced. Oligonucleotide primers have been developed using the isolated nucleic acid sequences of the SINV2. The virus is used as a biocontrol agent for control of fire ants.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional Patent Application No. 60/927,114, filed May 1, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to biological methods and products useful for the control of Solenopsis invicta. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a novel Solenopsis invicta virus, nucleic acids encoding the novel virus, biocontrol compositions, and methods of using the virus and/or biocontrol compositions for control of fire ants.

2. Description of the Related Art

Red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Buren), was first detected in the United States near Mobile, Ala. in the late 1920s (Lolling, USDA Insect Pest Surv. Bull., Volume 9, 241, 1929). Since that time, it has spread to encompass more than 128 million hectares, primarily in the southeastern United States (Williams et al., Am. Entomol., Volume 47, 146-159, 2001). Fire ants are known to destroy young citrus trees, growing crops, and germinating seeds. This has an economic impact on agriculture in infested areas. Telephone companies spend substantial amounts of money each year treating their electrical equipment to prevent fire ant invasion because fire ants accumulate at electrical contacts and can short out electrical equipment. Farm equipment can also be damaged by large fire any mounds. Fire ants also present a danger to wildlife, such as ground nesting birds and animals. Furthermore, fire ants are known to excavate the soil from under roadways causing damage.

Fire ants also pose health care problems to millions of people stung each year a significant number of which require medical care. Fire ant stings are also blamed for human deaths. Consequently, there is much interest in controlling these troublesome pests.

This interest has resulted in much research and resources being expended through the years to develop reagents and methods for controlling fire ants. While many useful insecticide formulations have resulted from this research, the problems associated with fire ants still exist because the relief gained by insecticide use is only temporary. Once the insecticide pressure is relaxed, fire ant populations invariably repopulate the areas. This reinfestation ability is attributed to the high reproductive capabilities, the efficient foraging behavior, and the ecological adaptability of the ants. While effective for controlling ants in relatively small defined areas, insecticides can create other problems. For example, some insecticides, which are effective at controlling fire ants, can pose a significant threat to the environment, including birds and mammals.

Although considerable research effort has been brought to bear against the red imported fire ant, it remains the primary pest ant species in infested areas; initial eradication trials failed, yielding to the wide distribution of pesticide-based control products and a federally imposed quarantine to prevent further spread. Recently, much of the research effort has focused on elucidating basic life processes in an attempt to develop unique control measures, and fostering the development of self-sustaining methods of control, including biocontrol organisms and microbes (Williams et al., Am, Entomol., Volume 49, 150-163, 2003).

A dearth of natural enemies of the red imported fire ant have been found in the U.S. including a neogregarine (Pereira et al., J. Invertebr. Pathology, Volume 81, 45-48, 2002) and a fungus (Pereira et al., J. Invertebr. Pathology, Volume 84, 38-44, 2004).

U.S. Pat. No. 6,660,290 discloses a non-sporulating mycelial stage of an insect-specific parasitic fungi for control of pests with fire ants listed as one of many examples of insects controlled by the biopesticide.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,925,663; 5,683,689; 6,254,864; and 6,403,085 disclose a biopesticide effective against fire ants that includes the fungus Beauveria bassiana.

There remains a need for biocontrol and/or microbial control agents that eliminate or at least reduce the spread of fire ant colonies using novel pathogens. The present invention described below is directed to a novel Solenopsis invicta virus useful for the control of fire ants which are different from prior art pathogens and their uses.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel Solenopsis invicta virus (SINV-2) for biocontrol of Solenopsis invicta.

A further object of present invention is to provide a nucleic acid sequence of SINV-2 for production of primers and biocontrol compositions.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide nucleic acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 1.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a biocontrol method for controlling fire ants that includes applying a SINV selected from the group consisting of SINV-2, SINV-1, SINV-1A, and mixtures thereof, to a carrier that is a fire ant food source to form a biocontrol composition which is scattered near a fire ant colony.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a biocontrol composition comprising SINV-2 and an acceptable carrier.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a biocontrol composition comprising a virus selected from the group consisting of SINV-2, SINV-1, SINV-1A and mixtures thereof.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-C is a drawing showing a schematic diagram of the Solenopsis invicta virus-2 (SINV-2) genome with a 5′-3′ orientation. Representation of the genome cloning strategy including expressed sequenced tags 18F8 and 1G9 (contig 246, accession number EH413675) indicated by a line without arrowheads, 3′RACE reaction (line with arrow to the right) and 15 successive 5RACE reactions (lines with arrows to the left) is shown in 1(A).

FIG. 1(B) shows open reading frames in the sense direction. Start and stop codons are represented by a vertical line and arrow, respectively. All three reading frames (RF1-3) are presented. Only ORFs comprised of at least 50 codons are presented. FIG. 1(C) shows conserved protein domains illustrated in-ORFs 1-4.

FIGS. 2A-B are photographs showing-characterization of SINV-2. FIG. 2(A) shows the sensitivity of SINV-2 RNA to single-strand—specific RNase A. Control (−) or RNase A-digested (+) nucleic acids prepared from SINV-2 infected S. invicta worker ants. RT-PCR and PCR were conducted with SINV-2-specific (p64/p65) or S. invicta transferrin-specific (p297/p316) oligonucleotide primers. FIG. 2(B) is an electron micrograph of a virus-like particle purified from SINV-2-infected S. invicta workers.

FIGS. 3A-3C are charts showing alignments of conserved regions of the putative helicase (3A) SEQ ID NOS: 43-48, RdRp (3B) SEQ ID NOS: 49-60, and ORF1 (3C) SEQ ID NOS: 61-66 of S1NV-2 with corresponding sequences from the cricket paralysis virus (CrPV), plautia stali (PSIV), SINV-1, and sacbrood virus (SbY). The numbers on the left indicate the starting amino acids of aligned sequences. Identical residues in at least four of the six virus sequences are shown in reverse. Sequence motifs shown for the helicase (hel A, hel B, and hel C) and RdRp (I-VIII) correspond to those identified and reviewed by Koonin and Dolja (1993). Asterisks indicate residues thought to be crucial to the activity of the protein.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing transmission to uninfected S. invicta fragment colonies. Worker ants were sampled on the days specified and tested for the presence of SINV-2 by RT-PCR with oligonucleotide primers p64/p65.

FIG. 5(A) is a chart of phylogenetic analysis of conserved amino acid sequences containing domains I to VIII of the putative RdRp from thirteen dicistroviruses, seven iflaviruses (italic), four plant RNA viruses (bold), five picornaviruses (underlined), Nora virus (boxed), and SINV-2 (bold and boxed). FIG. 5(B) is a chart of phylogenetic analysis of a domain of a putative structuaral protein form thirteen discistroviruses, seven iflaviruses (italic), and SINV-2 bold and boxed. Abbreviation of virus, accession number of the virus RNA or protein sequences, and amino acid residue numbers of aligned Sequences in a specific ORF (5′ proximal and 3′ proximal ORFs of dicistroviruses are used as non-structural and structural protein encoding sequences, respectively; otherwise an ORF number is specified) used to construct phylogenetic trees are: (A) Aphid lethal paralysis virus (ALPV)[AF536531], 1661-1955; Black queen cell virus (BQCV)[AF183905], 1415-1693; Cricket paralysis virus (CrPV)[AF218039], 1421-1699; Drosophila C virus (DCV) [AF014388], 1415-1693; Himetobi P virus (HiPV)[AB017037], 141-1710; Plautia stali intestine virus (PSIV), [A13006531], 1465-1739; Rhopalosiphum padi virus (RhPV) [AFO22937], 1625-1916; Triatoma virus (TrV) [AF178440], 1408-1682; Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), [AF150629], 1562-1837; Homalodisca coagulata virus-1 (HoCV-1) [DQ288865], 1446-1716; Kashmir bee virus (KBV) [AY275710], 1594-1864; Solenopsis invicta virus-1 (SINV-1) [AY6343,14], 1048-1327; Taura syndrome virus (TaSV) [AF277675], 1770-2036; Infectious flacherie virus (IFV) [AB000906], 2618-2888; Perina nuda virus (PeNV) [AF323747], 2628-2899; Sacbrood virus (SbV) [AF092924], 2518-2789; Deformed wing virus (DeWV) [AJ489744], 2556-2826; Ectropis oblique picorna-like virus (EcOV), [AY365064], 2629-2900; Kakugo virus (KV) [AB070959], 2556-2826; Varroa destructor virus-1 (VDV-1), [AY251269], 2556-2826; Foot-and-mouth disease virus O (FMDV) [AF308157], 2011-2264; Hepatitis A virus (HAV) [M14707], 1900-2159; Human parechovirus (HPV) [AJ005695], 1871-2117; Ljungan virus (LjV) [AF327920], 1945-2191; Simian picornavirus-1 (SiPV-1) [AY064708], 2119-2368; Broad bean wilt virus-1 (BVWV) [NP951930] RNA1, 405-657; Cowpea severe mosaic virus (CSMV) RNA-1 [M83830], 1553-1816; Tomato ringspot virus (TRV) [ABG23688] RNA1, 406-672; Tomato white ringspot virus (TWRV) [ABM65095], 1601-1872; Nora virus (NV) [DO321720] ORF2, 1763-2026; SINV-2 ORF4 [EF428566], 1810-2079; for FIG. 5B: ALPV, 89-228; BQCV, 720299; CrPV, 88-220; DCV, 67-199; HiPV, 8-138; PSIV, 133-263; RhPV, 5-141; TrV, 115-246; ABPV, 130-246; HoCV-1, 131-261; KBV, 86-220; SINV-1, 139-272; TaSV, 122-253; IFV, 252-388; PeNV, 416-553; SbV, 253-391; DeWV, 318-456; EcOV, 417-554; KV, 318-456; VDV-1, 318-456; SINV-2)RF1, 105-258.

FIGS. 6(A)-(K) includes the amino acid sequence of ORFs 1-4, SEQ ID NO: 68-71 and the complete genome of SINV-2 (SEQ ID NO: 1)

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Although viruses can be important biological control agents against insect populations (Lacey et al., Biol. Comtemp., Volume 21, 230-248, 2001), none have been shown to infect Solenopsis invicta. The only report present in the literature was the observation of “virus-like particles” in a Solenopsis species from Brazil (Avery et al., Brazil. Fla. Entomol., Volume 60, 17-20, 1977). Solenopsis invicta viruses (SINV) represent the first infection of the red imported fire ant by this group of organisms. In the laboratory SINV causes brood death of an entire colony and infection of healthy colonies (Valles et a., Virology,. Volume 328, 151-157, 2004; Valles et al., J. Invert. Path., Volume 88, 232-237, 2005; both references herein incorporated in their entirety).

U.S. Pat. No. 7,332,176, issued Feb. 19, 2008 (Valles et al) describes two viruses, SINV-1 and SINV1, useful for the control of S. invicta (herein incorporated by reference in its entirety).

The SINV-2 virus exhibits a monopartite, polycistronic, single-stranded RNA genome. The genome consensus sequence is approximately 11,303 nucleotides in length, excluding the poly(A) tail present on the 3′ end. Analysis of the genome revealed 4 major open reading frames (ORFs; comprised of ≧100 codons) and 5 minor ORFs (comprised of approximately 50-99 codons) int the sense direction. No large ORFs were found in the inverse orientation suggesting that the SINV-2 genome was from a positive-strand RNA virus. Further evidence includes, abolished RT-PCR amplification by RNase treatment of SINV-2 nucleic acid template; and failure to amplify without first conducting cDNA synthesis. Blastp analysis indicated that ORF 4 contained conserved domains of an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, helicase, and protease, characteristic of positive-strand RNA viruses. However, the protease domain and putative structural proteins, ORFs 1,2,and 3, were less well conserved. Phylogenetic analysis of the RdRp, helicase, and ORF1 indicate unique placement of SINV-2 exclusive from the Dicistroviridae, isflaviruses, Picomaviridae, and plant small RNA viruses.

SINV-2 represents the second virus discovered that infects the red imported fire ant, S. invicta. S1NV-2 is a unique virus with a genome that differs considerably from currently described positive-strand RNA viruses. Colonies infected with SINV-2 did not exhibit any discernable symptoms in the field or consistently when reared in the laboratory. However, some infected colonies exhibited brood die-off during laboratory rearing. These characteristics are consistent with other insect-infecting positive-strand RNA viruses, including SINV-1 (Valles et al, 2005, supra). They often persist as unapparent, asymptomatic infections that, under certain conditions, may induce replication within the host resulting in observable symptoms and often death (Christian and Scotti, 1998; Fernandez et al., 2001; Oldstone, Virology, Volume 344, 111-118, 2006).

Isometric particles with a diameter of approximately 33 nm were found only in ants testing positive for SINV-2 by RT-PCR (FIG. 2B). This particle size was consistent with other positive-strand RNA viruses (Chen and Siede, Adv. Viral Res., (in press) 2007). Quantitative PCR (QPCR) revealed that the SINV-2 genome is most prevalent in the alimentary canals of worker ants. The alimentary tract is a common target of insect-infecting positive-strand RNA viruses (Gildow and D'Arcy, J. Invertebr. Pathol., Volume 55, 245-257,1990; Nakashima et al., J. Invertebr. Pathol., Volume 71, 151-158, 1998; van den Heuvel et al., J. Invertebr. Pathol., Volume 70, 169-176, 1997). SINV-1 also has been shown to exhibit alimentary canal tropism (Hashimoto and Valles, unpublished). These data are consistent with the inability to detect SINV-2 in fire ant pupae.

The SINV-2 genome structure was monopartite, polycistronic and RNA-based (FIGS. 1B and 2A). It appears that the non-structural proteins are found in the 3′-proximal ORF 4 and, structural, or capsid, proteins are encoded by ORFS 1 , 2, and 3. This structure is in direct contrast to SINV-1 which exhibits a dicistronic genome with non-structural proteins encoded by the 5′ proximal ORF. Regions of the polyprotein encoded by SINV-2 ORF 4 exhibited significant homology to the RdRp and helicase of positive-strand RNA viruses (e.g. Dicistroviridae, Iflaviridae, and Picornaviridae). However, only a partial domain for a protease/peptidase was recognized near the amino end of the ORF 4 polyprotein (amino acid residues 330-410). A similarly unique genome structure was recently identified in the Nora virus that persistently infects Drosophila melanogaster (Habayeb et al., 2006). The Nora virus genome is also monopartite and polycistronic, possessing 4 major ORFs. However, RdRp and helicase were found in the second 5′-proximal ORF.

The SINV-2 polyprotein encoded by ORF 4 was aligned with non-structural regions of the cricket paralysis virus (CrPV), Plautia stali intestine virus (PSIV), Solenopsis invicta virus 1 (SINV-1), infectious flacherie virus (IFV), and sacbrood virus (SbV) using the Vector NTI alignment software with Clustal W algorithm (InforMax, Inc., Bethesda, Md.). The alignments revealed sequence motifs for an RdRp, helicase, and protease, characteristics of Picornaviridae, Dicistroviridae, and related positive-strand RNA viruses (Koonin and Dolja, Crit. Rev. Viochem. Molec. Biol., Volume 28, 375-430,1993) (FIG. 3). Amino acid positions 694 to 805 exhibited similarity to helicase. The consensus sequence for the RNA helicase, Gx₄GK (Gorbalenya et al., FEBS Lett., Volume 262, 145-148, 1990), thought to be responsible for nucleotide binding, was found in the polyprotein of the SINV-2 ORF 4 at amino acids 706 to 712 (FIG. 3, motif Hel A). ORF 4 also encoded sequence with similarity to RdRp (amino acids 1,690 to 2,100; FIG. 3B). All positive-strand RNA viruses encode the RdRp (Koonin and Dolja, 1993, supra) and comparative analysis revealed that they possess 8 common sequence motifs (Koonin, J. Gen. Virol., Volume 72, 2197-2206, 1991). These core RdRp motifs were shown by site-directed mutagenesis to be crucial to the activity of the enzyme (Sankar and Porter, J. Biol. Chem., Volume 267, 10168-10176, 1992). All eight of these motifs were present in SINV-2 ORF 4 (FIG. 3B). Furthermore, the sequence motifs IV, V, and VI were reported to be unequivocally conserved throughout this class of viruses, exhibiting 6 invariant amino acid residuces (Koonin and Dolja, 1993, supra). SINV-2 ORF 4 possessed all 6 of these characteristic residues, D¹⁸⁹³, D¹⁸⁹⁸ (motif IV), G¹⁹⁵⁷, T¹⁹⁶¹ (motif V), and D²⁰⁰³, D²⁰⁰⁴ (motif VI). Thus these data strongly support the conclusion that SINV-2 possesses an RdRp typically found in positive-strand RNA viruses.

Blastp analysis of ORF 4 also indicated that the region contained by amino acids 330 and 410 was consistent with a protease domain. However, only a partial domain was indicated. Furthermore, amino acids thought to form the catalytic triad of the protease (H,E,C) and the consensus GxCG sequence motif of positive-strand RNA viruses were absent in this region and across the entrie ORF (Koonin and Dolja, 1993, supra; Ryan and Flint, J. Gen. Virol., Volume 78, 699-723, 1997). Nor was this sequence motif found in ORFs 1,2, or 3. Habayeb et al (2006, supra) recently reported a similarly poorly conserved protease domain region in the Nora virus.

In contrast to Dicistroviridae (monopartite/dicistronic), iflaviruses, and Picornaviridae (monpartite/monocistronic), the SINV-2 genome appears to be unique with a monopartite poly(tetra)-cistronic genome organization. The largest ORF (4) contained domains consistent with the RdRp, helicase, and protease/peptidase of positive-strand RNA viruses. The remaining ORFs (1,2, and 3) putatively encode structural or capsid proteins. The SINV-2-genome organization is similar to that of the Nora virus which also encodes 4 major ORFs in a monopartite genome (Habayeb et al., J. Gen. Virol., Volume 87, 3045-3051, 2006). However, the positional organization of the ORFs is different between the Nora virus and SINV-2.

The present invention provides nucleic acids encoding for SINV-2 as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 (FIGS. 6A-6K). The invention also provides nucleic acid sequences (SEQ ID NO: 2-20) capable of selectively hybridizing DNA, RNA, and cDNA sequences which can be derived from SEQ ID NO: 1. To isolate SINV-2, RNA from fire ants, collected from a fire ant mound, was extracted from about 20-50 workers using TRIZOL reagent according to the manufacturer's directions (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.).

With the primers of the present invention, one of ordinary skill in the art could readily identify SINV viruses of the present invention.

For purposes of the present invention, the term “fire ant” and “Solenopsis invicta” are used interchangeably to describe the common red fire ant, originating in South America, but now commonly found in the United States, and Puerto Rico. The term fire ant also is used to describe black fire ants and other hybrid fire ants or other ants that are infected by the viruses of the present invention.

For purposes of the present invention, the term “isolated” is defined as separated from other viruses found in naturally occurring organisms.

For purposes of the present invention, the term “composition” is used to describe a composition which contains the virus of the presently claimed invention, optionally a carrier and optionally a pesticide. The carrier component can be a liquid or a solid material and is an inert, non-repellent carrier for delivering the composition to a desired site. Liquids suitable as carriers include water, and any liquid which will not affect the viability of the viruses of the present invention. Solid carriers can be anything which the fire ant will feed on. Non-limiting examples of solid carriers of the present invention include materials such as corn cob grits, extruded corn pellets, boiled egg yolks, and frozen insects such as crickets.

Optional toxicants include Chlorfenapyr, Imidacloprid, Fipronil, Hydramethylnon, Sulfluramid, Hexaflumuron, Pyriproxyfen, methoprene, lufenuron, dimilin, Chlorpyrifos, and their active derivatives, Neem, azadiractin, boric acid based, etc. The toxicant acts as a stressor which may be required to initiate viral replication which in turn results in brood death in the fire ant colony.

The term “effective amount” or “amount effective for” as used herein means that minimum amount of a virus composition needed to at least reduce, or substantially eradicate fire ants in a fire ant colony when compared to the same colony or other colony which is untreated. The precise amount needed will vary in accordance with the particular virus composition used; the colony to be treated; the environment in which the colony is located. The exact amount of virus composition needed can easily be determined by one having ordinary skill in the art given the teachings of the present specification. The examples herein show typical concentrations which will be needed to at least reduce the number of fire ants in a colony.

In the present method of using the viruses of the present invention, to reduce or eradicate a population of fire ants, the present compositions are delivered to the fire ants by spreading the composition at or near the fire ant colonies. The amount of composition used is an effective amount for producing the intended result, whether to reduce or eradicate the population of fire ants. The composition is prepared by homogenizing approximately 300 workers from a SINV infected colony in an equal volume of water and placing the resulting homogenate on a carrier.

The following examples are intended only to further illustrate the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

EXAMPLE 1

A one-step reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to identify SINV-2-infected S. invicta ants. A 20 ml scintillation vial was plunged into a fire ant mound in the field for several minutes to collect a sample of the worker caste. The ants were returned to the laboratory and RNA was extracted from about 10-20 ants using TRIZOL reagent according to the manufacturer's directions (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.). cDNA was synthesized and subsequently amplified using the One-Step RT-PCR kit (Invitrogen) with oligonucleotide primers p64-SEQ ID NO: 2 and 65 SEQ ID NO: 3 (Table 1). Samples were considered positive for the virus when a visible amplicon (about 319 nucleotides) was present after separation on about a 1.2% agarose gel stained with ethidium bromide. RT-PCR was conducted in a PTC 100 thermal cycler (MJ Research, Waltham, Mass.) Under the following optimized temperature regime:

-   -   1 cycle at about 45° C. for about 30 minutes;     -   1 cycle at about 94° C for about 2 minutes;     -   35 cycles at about 94° C. for about 15 seconds;     -   1 cycle at about 56° C. for about 15 seconds;     -   1 cycle at about 68° C. for about 30 seconds; and     -   a final elongation step of about 68° C. for about 5 minutes.

SINV-2 was purified for electron microscopy by the method described by Ghosh et al. (J. Gen. Virol., Volume 80, 1541-1549, 1999). Briefly, approximately 200 worker ants were homogenized in about 5 ml of NT buffer (Tris-HCl, pH about 7.4, approximately 10 mM NaCl) using a Potter-Elvehjem Teflon pestle and glass mortar. The mixture was clarified by centrifugation at about 1000 X g for about 10 minutes in an L8-70M ultracentrifuge (Beckman, Palo Alto, Calif.). The supernatant was extracted with an equal volume of 1,1,2-trichlortrifluoroethane before the aqueous phase was layered onto a discontinuous CsCl gradient (about 1.2 and about 1.5 g/ml) which was centrifuged at about 270,000 X g for about 1 hour in an SW60 rotor. A whitish band visible near the interface was removed by suction and desalted. The sample was negatively stained with about 2% phosphotungstic acid, about pH 7, and examined with a Hitachi H-600 transmission electron microscope (Hitachi, Pleasanton, Calif.) on a formvar film coated grid. Uninfected worker ants were prepared and examined in the same manner and served as controls.

A contiguous fragment (approximately 634 nucleotides) was assembled from ESTs 18F8 and 1G9 (contig c246, accession number EH413675) and used as the primary sequence from which oligonucleotide primers were designed and rapid amplification of 5′ and 3′ cDNA end PCR, RACE (3′and 5′) reactions were conducted (FIG. 1A). From this fragment, a series of rapid amplification of 5′ cDNA end PCR, 5′RACE reactions were conducted to obtain the upstream sequence of the SINV-2 genome using the rapid amplification of 3′ cDNA end PCR, 5′ RACE system (Invitrogen) and primer walking. Briefly, cDNA was synthesized with a gene-specific oligonucleotide primer (GSP) from total RNA, the RNA template was degraded with RNase H, and the cDNA purified. The 3′ end of the cDNA was polycytidylated with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase and dCTP. The tailed cDNA was then amplified with a nested, upstream GSP and an abridged anchor primer (AAP; Table 1).

Fifteen successive rapid amplification of 5′ cDNA end PCR, 5′ RACE reactions were conducted to obtain the entire SINV-2 genome. Anticipating the potential need to remove the VPg often covalently attached to the insect picorna-like viruses (Christian and Scotti, In: “The insect viruses, 301-336, Plenum Publishing Corporation, N.Y., 1998), approximately 50 micrograms of total RNA prepared from SINV-2-infected ants was digested with proteinase K., approximately 600 micrograms/ml, for about 1 hour at approximately 37 degrees C. The digested RNA was purified by acidic phenol:chloroform:isoamyl alcohol extraction. cDNA sysnthesis was conducted for about 50 minutes at about 45 degrees C. with approximately 2.5 micrograms of total RNA and a GSP for the 15 reactions (FIG. 2A). After cDNA synthesis, PCR was conducted with AAP and arrested GSP. Gel purified amplicons were ligated into an expression vector, the pCR4-TOPO Vector, transformed into chemical competent E. Coli cells TOP10 competent cells (Invitrogen) and sequenced.

A single a rapid amplification of 3′ RACE reaction was conducted with a GeneRacer kit (Invitrogen). cDNA was synthesized from total RNA, approximately 1 microgram, purified from SINV-2-infected workers using the GeneRacer Oligo dT primer. The cDNA was amplified by PCR with oligonucleotide primer p64 and the GeneRacer 3′ primer. Amplicons were cloned and sequenced as described for a rapid amplification of 5′ cDNA end PCR, 5′ RACE.

Experiments were conducted to confirm the RNA characteristics of the SINV-2 genome. Nucleic acids purified from SINV-2-positive ants were divided into two aliquots of approximately 2 micrograms each. One aliquot was treated with approximately 33 micrograms (1 microliter) of RNaseA (Sigma) at about 37 degrees C. for about 1 hour in Tris-HCl, pH approximately 8.0. RNase-treated and -untreated samples were then evaluated by PCR and RT-PCR using oligonucleotide primers specific to SINV-2 , p64 and p65, and to the S. invicta transferrin gene, p297 and p316, as an internal control (Valles and Pereira, Gene, Volume 358, 60-66, 2005).

The SINV-2 genome was constructed by compiling sequences from 15 successive 5′ RACE reactions, one 3′ RACE reaction, and EST c246 (EH413674) from the fire ant expression library (FIG. 1A). Subsequent RT-PCR amplification with overlapping oligonucleotide primers provided at least 5-fold coverage of the genome. The SINV-2 genome consensus sequence (Accession number EF428566) was 11,303 nucleotides in length, excluding the poly(A) tail present at the 3′ end. The genome sequence was A/U rich (approximately 27.9% A, 28.9% U, 20.1% C, 23.1% G). Analysis of the genome revealed 4 major ORFs comprised of 100 codons) and 5 minor ORFs comprised of approximately 50-99 codons in the sense orientation (FIG. 1B). Among the major ORFs, ORF3 was in the first reading frame, ORFs 1 and 2 were in the second reading frame, and ORF 4 was in the third reading frame. ORFs 2 and 3 overlap a stop and start codon, respectively. ORF 1 was followed directly by 2 additional minor ORFs. ORFs 1 through 4 encoded predicted proteins of 29, 413; 31, 160; 43, 224; and 246,845 Da. No large ORFs were found in the reverse orientation suggesting that the SINV-2 genome was positive sense. FIG. 2A shows that RNase treatment of nucleic acid preparations from SINV-2-infected S. invicta failed to yield an amplicon by RT-PCR analysis. PCR also failed to yield an amplicon with oligonucleotide primers specific for SINV-2 indicating absence of a DNA stage or integration. The S. invicta transferrin (SiTF) gene, an internal control, produced an amplicon by PCR in both RNase A-treated and -untreated samples.

Blastp analysis (Altschul et al, Nucleic Acid Res., Volume 25, 3389-3402, 1997) of SINV-2 ORF 4 revealed significant (expectation score ≦10⁵) homology with RdRp and helicase conserved domains from positive-strand RNA viruses (FIGS. 1C and 3). No significant homology was indicated after blastp analysis of ORFs 1, 2 and 3 of the SINV-2 genome. However, capsid proteins of positive-strand RNA viruses were indicated (Expectation scores greater than 1).

Electron microscopic examination of negatively stained samples from SINV-2-infected fire ants revealed particles that were consistent with Picomaciridae, Dicistroviridae, and related positive-strand RNA viruses (FIG. 2B). Isometric particles with a diameter of approximately 33 nm were observed exclusively in preparations from SINV-2-infected fire ants; no corresponding particles were observed in samples prepared from uninfected fire ants.

TABLE 1 Oligonucleotide primers. Oligonucleotide Genome Designation Reaction Oligonucleotide (5′→3′) Position Orientation P64 3′ Race/Ant ATTTGTTTTGGCCACGGTCAACA 10758-10780 → infection SEQ ID NO: 2 P65 Ant Infection GATGATACAAAGCATTAGCGTAGGTAAACG 11047-11076 ← SEQ ID NO: 3 p297 Transferrin CCCAATCATTCCATTTGTCCCATGTGTTGTC NA ← SEQ ID NO: 4 p316 Transferrin CTGTTATCAAGAGTGGCTCCTCCTCCCTAAATGGATTG NA → SEQ ID NO: 5 p479 Genome CTTCGGAAAATTTCGTTAAAATCTGATTAACGGTGAGCT 10798-10836 ← SEQ ID NO: 6 p480 5′ RACE/Coverage AGCGTAGGTAAACGCATTGCCCAACCGG 11033-11060 ← SEQ ID NO: 7 p482 cDNA synthesis TGCGGAGGTTCTACGTCAA 11104-11122 ← SEQ ID NO: 8 P483 cDNA synthesis TAGATCGGTGCGACATAGGTGTC 11158-11180 ← SEQ ID NO: 9 P500 5′ RACE/Coverage GAAAGGGAATCTTCGAACTTGTAGTACCCTTGAAG 9810-9844 ← SEQ ID NO: 10 p502 cDNA synthesis GTCTTTGGTGGTGTGATTTCATCA 9920-9943 ← SEQ ID NO: 11 p504 Coverage CAGGGACTATATGGAGATTGATGAATTTGGTGAAG 9752-9786 → SEQ ID NO: 12 p511 QPCR CGGAGACACTGAGCCTTTCTGGACTCCATAG 8677-8707 ← SEQ ID NO: 13 p514 QPCR (RT) TACACTTGGGTCTCAGGAACC 8816-8836 ← SEQ ID NO: 14 p515 Coverage/QPCR TGTATCGCGGAAATTACCCAACATCACAAC 8585-8613 → SEQ ID NO: 15 p525 5′ RACE TTCCGCACTGCTGGGAATAGTCGCG 8872-8896 ← SEQ ID NO: 16 p527 cDNA synthesis TTGAGGTCAAGGCGATCAAC 9018-9037 ← SEQ ID NO: 17 p541 Coverage CACTTGTGCAATAACAGGTGATCCACTTCTTCC 9099-9131 ← SEQ ID NO: 18 p542 cDNA synthesis GAGAACAGTGATGCAATTGATTT 8514-8536 ← SEQ ID NO: 19 p545 5′ RACE TCAGTCCATTTGAGTAGACCTTTGCAACACATG 8158-8190 ← SEQ ID NO: 20 p546 cDNA synthesis CTGCGGCAAATTCTCT 7217-7232 ← SEQ ID NO: 21 p548 5′ RACE/Coverage TGCATACTCGTTGTAAACAATCTGCTCATCT 7112-7142 ← SEQ ID NO: 22 p549 Coverage ACGGTCTCCGCAGCTCCTCCAAACACT 7073-7099 ← SEQ ID NO: 23 p551 cDNZ synthesis TAAAGTAGACTTACCAATTCCTG 6574-6596 ← SEQ ID NO: 24 p554 5′ RACE TACATCTGACGATATTCAGGATTGTCACGGCA 6426-6457 ← SEQ ID NO: 25 p555 Coverage TGCCGTGACAATCCTGAATATCGTCAGATGTA 6426-6457 → SEQ ID NO: 26 p560 5' RACE/Coverage GACTTGTCCAAATGTCCTTGGACTTCATAACCAGCT 5656-5690 ← SEQ ID NO: 27 p563 cDNA synthesis TTCCTGAGAAACCTTCCAT 5787-5805 ← SEQ ID NO: 28 p573 5′ RACE/Coverage AAAGGATTCCCTCAGATGTCAGGTTGGAA 5027-5055 ← SEQ ID NO: 29 p574 cDNA synthesis TCCAGCGACTCCTCGAATGATAAGATGTAGAC 5062-5093 ← SEQ ID NO: 30 p579 Coverage TGGAAGTTTCAACTCCGCGACGAAATTA 4494-4521 → SEQ ID NO: 31 p580 5′ RACE TAATTTCGTCGCGGAGTTGAAACTTCCA 4494-4521 ← SEQ ID NO: 32 p588 5′ RACE CTTTCGCACTGCACAATATTCCGAGTGC 4029-4056 ← SEQ ID NO: 33 p599 5′ RACE/Coveragc GATGCTTTATATGAGTGATCCTGACGCTGGATTGC 3232-3266 ← SEQ ID NO: 34 p602 5′ RACE ACTGAGTCACCAGAGAAGTCATCGTGTGGGTC 2261-2292 ← SEQ ID NO: 36 p610 5′ RACE GCTCTGCTGTTCACGAATAAGATCTGCATTAAGACC 1603-1638 ← SEQ ID NO: 37 p615 5′ RACE ACTGCTACTGCCAGGGACTCAATTTGCG 1167-1194 ← SEQ ID NO: 38 p617 Genome/Coverage TTGGTACAGTGGGAACTTTGCTTCTTCTGGGAT 1113-1145 → SEQ ID NO: 39 p619 Coverage GGTGCCATGCAATACCGCATTCGTGGTT 3109-3125 → SEQ ID NO: 40 p62l Coverage GAATGGAGACAGGAGCAGTACACACAAGATCAACTG 5118-5153 → SEQ ID NO: 41 p623 Coverage GAGAAGATGAGCAGATTGTTTACAACGAGTATGCAAA 7108-7144 → SEQ ID NO: 42 p632 5′ RACE CACTCCGGTTTTATCCACAGTGGTCGGGTCT 415-445 ← SEQ ID NO: 43

EXAMPLE 2

A field survey was conducted to examine the extent of the SINV-2 infection among S. invicta nests from locations in and around Gainesville, Fla. Samples of workers were retrieved from the field and treated as described above in Example 1. SINV-2-specific oligonucleotide primers p64 SEQ ID NO: 2 and p65 SEQ ID NO: 3 were used in an RT-PCR reaction to determine the presence of infection. In an effort to determine possible ant social form-specificity of SINV-2, each nest that tested positive for SINV-2 was also genotyped at the Gp-9 locus to determine the social form of the nest (Valles and Porter Insectes Soc., Volume 50, 199-200, 2003).

Experiments were conducted to determine if the virus was present in different developmental stages. Samples of queens workers, early instars (1^(st) and 2^(nd)), late instars (3^(rd) an 4^(th)), eggs, and pupae were sampled directly from the field from SINV-2-positive colonies. All samples were analyzed for infection by the RT-PCR method.

Among 259 S. invicta nests samples within a one year period, 14 (5.4%) were found to be infected with SINV-2 (Table 2) by RT-PCR. No social form specificity was evident as monogyne (approximately 2.3%) and polygyne (approximately 3.1%) nests were found to harbor the virus (Table 2). The infection was detected in eggs, early 1^(st)-2^(nd)) and late (3^(rd)-4^(th)) instars, workers, and queens. However, SINV-2 was not detected in pupae taken from five SINV-2-infected colonies.

TABLE 2 Prevalence of SINV-2 infection and corresponding Gp-9 genotype of Solenopsis invicta workers from infected nests. SINV-2- Nests infected Infected nests with Collection Nests with Gp-9 genotype Date Location Sampled SINV-2 BB Bb January Gainesville, 64 1 1 FL April Gainesville, 10 1 1 FL May Gainesville, 25 0 FL August Lake City, FL 20 0 August Micanopy, FL 15 0 August Gainesville, 50 3 1 2 FL October Gainesville, 25 2 1 1 FL December Gainesville, 30 7 4 3 FL January Gainesville, 20 0 FL

EXAMPLE 3

SINV-2-uninfected laboratory-reared monogyne colonies were identified by RT-PCR and divided into 4 equivalent fragment colonies comprised of about 0.5 grams of brood and about 4 ml of workers. Colonies were infected by a modified method described by Ackey and Beck (J. Insect. Physiol, Volume 18, 1901-1914, 1972), Workers and brood, approximately 0.15 gram, from a SINV-2-infected colony were homogenized in an equal volume of approximately 10% sucrose. The homogenate was filtered through 4 layers of cheesecloth. Approximately 4 ml of the homogenate/sucrose solution was placed into a cotton-stopped test tuve and presented to 3 of the 4 fragment colonies; one fragment colony was provided a homogenate of uninfected ants and served as control. After about 2 days, the homogenate was removed and replaced with unadulterated 10% sucrose, water, frozen crickets (Acheta domesticus) and egg yolk (hard boiled). Three replicates were conducted comprised of three colonies, each that had been fragmented into 4 subcolonies. Fragment colonies were examined by RT-PCR at 0,7,14,21,28, and 45 days after exposure to the homogenate.

Ice-chilled fire ant workers from a SINV-2-positive colony were placed on a glass slide, and head, thorax, and abdomen were separated with a surgical blade under a Leica MS5 dissecting microscope. The abdomen was immersed in 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and tissues were isolated and removed with micro-dissecting forceps in the following order: crop, poison sac, alimentary canal comprised of the midgut, hindgut, and Malpigian tubes; and the remaining abdomen carcass comprised of the Dufour's gland, ovary, fat body, muscle, and cuticle. Six replicates were conducted each comprised of body parts and tissues pooled from 5 workers. RNA was extracted from the body parts and tissues with Trizol reagent. The RNA concentration was measured spectrophotometricaly.

cDNA was synthesized from the SINV-2 genome region corresponding to an area between the helicase and RdRp with total RNA isolated from dissected tissues using SuperScript III Reverse Transcriptase (SsRT; Invitrogen) and a gene-specific primer, p514 (Table 1). In a 0.5 ml PCR tube, approximately 2 microliters of primer p514 (approximately 1 micromole), approximately 1 microliter of a dNTP mix (approximately 10 mM), and approximately 10 microliters of total RNA (approximately 100 ng) were mixed and heated to about 65 degrees C. for about 5 minutes in a PCR reaction machine, PTC 100 thermal cycler, followed by incubation on ice for about 1 minute. Then approximately 4 microliters of first-strand buffer, approximately 250 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.3; Approximately 375 mM KCl, 15 mM MgCl₂), approximately 2.75 microliters of DEPC water, and approximately 0.25 microliters of SsRT (approximately 200 U/microliter) were added. The mixture was incubated at approximately 55 degrees centigrade for about 30 minutes, followed by inactivation of SsRT by heating to approximately 70 degrees centrigrade for about 15 minutes.

QPCR was performed on an automatic sequence detection system, ABI PRISM 7000 Sequence Detection System interfaced to sequencing software, the ABI PRISM 7000 SDS sortware (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.) in approximately a 25 microliter reaction volume. The reaction contained approximately 12.5 microliters of a conventional SYBR Green SuperMix with uraci -DNA- glycosylase, UDG and a red fluorescence dye, ROX (Invitrogen), approximately 0.4 microliters each of approximately 10 microM SINV-2-specific primers, p511, and p515, Table 1), approximately 3 mM MgCl₂, approximately 1 microliter of cDNA synthesis reaction, and approximately 10.7 microliters of DEPC-water. QPCR conditions consisted of one cycle at approximately 50 degrees C. for about 2 minutes and approximately 95 degrees C. for about 10 minutes, followed by about 40 cycles at approximately 95 degrees C. for about 15 seconds, approximately 72 degrees C. for about 1 minute. The non-template control for QPCR included a mock cDNA synthesis reaction that was carried out with RNA template. A standard curve was constructed from a plasmid clone of the corresponding SINV-2 genome region using a copy number range of approximately 5-5×10⁶ copies per QPCR. Reaction efficiencies were determined by regressing C_(T) values against the template copy number (log) and calculated according to the formula [E=(10^(−1/10))-1] (Klein et al., Electrophoresis, Volume 20, 291-299,1999). Reaction efficiencies routinely exceeded approximately 95%.

Transmission of SINV-2 to uninfected S. invicta was successfully accomplished by feeding. SINV-2 was detectable in uninfected colonies within 7 days of exposure to a partially purified homogenate of SINV-2-infected fire ants (FIG. 4). The infection was detected for at least 45 days after treatment, indicating sustained infection among recipient coloinies. The overwhelming majority (approximately 99%) of the viral genome copies were found in the alimentary canals of worker ants (Table 3).

TABLE 3 Distrubtuion of the SINV-2 genome among different tissues and body parts of Solenopsis invicta workers by RT-PCR and quantitative PCR. SINV-2 Distribution of SINV-2 Tissue/body part presence by RT-PCR genome (%)_(a) Head +  0.1 ± 0.01 Thorax + 0.6 ± 1.4 Crop + 0.1 ± 0.2 Poison Sac + 0.1 ± 0.2 Abdominal carcass + 0.1 ± 0.1 Alimentary Canal + 99.0 ± 1.4 

EXAMPLE 5

Blastp analysis was conducted with conserved regions of SINV-2 RdRp, helicase, and the N-terminal region of a putative structural protein (ORF1). Representative viruses exhibiting significant e-scores (<10⁻⁵) were included in the phylogenetic analysis. Viral nucleotide sequences were retrieved from the genome resource at NCBI and used for comparative ORF analysis and multiple-alignment with SINV-2 usng advanced sequence analysis software, Vector NTI Advance software (Version 10.1.1, Invitrogen). Multiple alignments were carried out for the deduced amino acid sequences of the non-structural and structural polyproteins of viral genomes.

Specifically, conserved regions of the RdRp (domains-I-VIII), helicase (domains A, B, and C) and those corresponding t SINV-2 ORF 1 (a putative structural protein) were aligned and subsequently used to construct an unrooted radial phylogenetic tree using the neighbor-joining method (Saitou and Nei Mol. Biol. Evol., Volume 4, 406-425, 1987) in ClustalX (Thompson et al., Nucleic Acids Res., Volume 22, 4673-4680, 1994). The statistical significance of branch order was estimated by performing 1000 replicatins of bootstrap re-sampling of the original aligned amino acid sequences. Trees were generated with TreeView (Page, Computer Applications in the Biosciences, Volume 12, 357-358, 1996).

Phylogenetic analysis of the RdRp domain placed SINV-2 IFV, and the Nora virus each standing alone, separated from clusters comprised of dicistroviruses, iflaviruses, picornaviruses, and plant small RNA viruses (FIG. 5A). Bootstrap values between the major clusters and SINV-2 were relatively low, suggesting an uncertain common ancestor. A similar positioning of SINV-2 was observed when the conserved region of the helicase (domains A, B, and C) was analyzed (Data not shown). When phylogenetic analysis was conducted using a conserved region identified from multiple alignments of SINV-2 ORF-1 and putative structural protein sequences of completely sequenced dicistroviurses and iflaviruses, both virus groups clustered independently, leaving SINV-2 isolated within the tree (FIG. 5B). Bootstrap values at nodes separating SINV-2 and neighboring clusteres were greater than 70%. This independent placement of SINV-2 corresponds, well with phylogenetic results from the RdRp and helicase which indicates a very early divergence of SINV-2 among the positive-strand RNA viruses.

The foregoing detailed description is for the purpose of illustration. Such detail is solely for that purpose and those skilled in the art can make variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. A purified Solenopsis invicta virus 2 (SINV2) having SEQ ID NO:
 1. 2. A biocontrol composition comprising: a. an effective amount of a Solenopsis invicta virus 2 (SINV2) preparation having SEQ ID NO: 1 to at least reduce the number of fire ants in a colony, and b. a carrier.
 3. The composition of claim 2 wherein said carrier is a food source for said ants.
 4. The composition of claim 3 wherein said food source is selected from the group consisting of insects, cooled egg yolk, corn cob grits, soybean oil, extruded corn pellets, and mixtures thereof.
 5. A biocontrol composition comprising purified Solenopsis invicta virus 2 (SINV2) SINV 2 having SEQ ID NO:
 1. 